When To Let Go

I think you know it in your bones.

In your heart.

In your body.

But it’s usually your mind that struggles to let go.

We hold on, out of fear, out of obligation, out of expectation.

This is your permission slip (if you needed it) to let go of something that isn’t serving you the way you’d hoped.

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting since September and especially over the Christmas break. Tiny Giraffe turns 10 this month, and it felt like a really poignant time to consider my next chapter in life:

I think it’s too much pressure to plan for 10 years.

But one thing I know for sure — I want the next 10 years to feel easeful, joyful, uninhibited and expansive. I want to smash through any glass ceilings that I’ve created unconsciously.

I want to meet myself right where I’m at and honour each season.

I’ve been feeling the pull to let go of Artist Diaries, after only 9 months of writing. I honestly expected it would go for years — I have SO MUCH to say about art and business, after all — and was something I dreamt of running for a long time. I wanted to build an artist community and I even planned to create artist retreats this year to support that.

I poured a lot of time into my writing in 2025. It was life-giving. But it was also time consuming. I would estimate that I wrote anywhere between 2-4 hours most weekends sifting through ideas, pouring words out onto the page, refining them and shaping them into stories and advice for you.

Now, my heart is telling me to reclaim that time for myself.

As my businesses get busier, the weekends became more precious. And through my EMDR work with my phsychologist, I have gained so much inner wisdom about how to take better care of myself.

I also have a new desire — to create more videos for my YouTube channel. I want to share my stories there so I have something to look back on when I’m old. Something that will honour my art and stories like Substack does, but in visual form.

I don’t care for the noise of instagram, shouting into the void, battling the algorithm and how it tries to squish my big ideas, feelings and projects into tiny images or short reels and captions. There’s no way to do my projects justice there, and I want to tell the stories of my clients. Why they commission me, what we achieve together and how it makes me feel to create special spaces. I think the best ways to do that is through long form expression — YouTube and blogs. I also think it honours my personality best and my desire to express myself.

The HUGE surprising benefit of Artist Diaries has been that it set me up for discipline — something I don’t associate with myself — a practice of sitting down and pouring my words onto the page.

Now, I’ll be channelling that energy and time into scripts for YouTube and stories for my website. I hope I can be as consistent for myself as I was for you!

2016 was a pivotal year for me and I hope 2026 will be no different.

Thank you so very much to my paid subscribers.

Your belief in me and support of me touched me deeply and gave me the confidence to realise that I can do just about anything.

This ‘home’ for my writing was an outlet, an experiment, and a gift from me to you. I wanted to share with you all the things I learned along the way towards running a financially sustainable art business, because the Kylie from 10 years ago saw it happen for others but didn’t know if it was possible for her.

I broke through my own glass ceiling for myself.

I wanted to share the seemingly impossible things that came true for me as an artist, so you could dive into your own art practice and create your own dream life. I still want that for you.

Artist Diaries Moving Forward

For now, Artist Diaries is in what I’ll lovingly refer to as ‘holiday mode’.

I mean, how good was the time between Christmas and New Years? Not knowing what day it is! That lovely floaty space where days blend into each other. The joy of having no agenda, just gently moving between all the daily delights and caring less about what you’re ‘supposed to do’.

I am unsure if I will continue to write and when, but all posts will be unpaid going forward. I likely won’t share as deeply or as personally as I did in my paid posts, but my goal is to always be authentic, genuine and honest in sharing.

I still have some creations in the works, to help you grow your art business, including a workshop I’ve been preparing about how I find my very best clients (they are honestly amazing).

If I get to finish it, you’ll be the first to know.

If you’d like to see my art and read my words more often, join me over at my Tiny Giraffe substack:

Join Me at Tiny Giraffe

A Little Artist Diaries Update

I haven’t done one of these for a little while, so while I have you - here’s how life looks for me as a full time artist right now :)

What’s Not Working

Being on instagram too much, scrolling the time away. Consuming instead of creating. Overthinking. Not practicing art enough and then every time I sit down, being too critical of what I create. Feeling booked out and a little burnt out. Worrying about niches. Worrying what people think of me. Feeling guilty I’m not celebrating Tiny Giraffe’s 10 years by doing whatever I might be ‘supposed to do’ like hold a competition/giveaway. The humid Brisbane heat. The garage breaking. Endless weeds in my garden.

What’s Working

Letting my heart lead. Watching the bats at sunset. Watching the full moon every night, outside. Night time walks watching the city lights. Learning to be more selfish. Being discerning who I spend time with or what events I attend. Saying no more. Unsubscribing. Easy dinners. Manifesting my dream outdoor teak table setting for outdoor painting sessions and dinners with friends. Beach swims and artist meetups. Swapping my sticky chai latte for iced matcha OMG. Hiring a VA. Slowly building out my photography website. Building out my wallpaper shop. My husband telling me I have all year to celebrate Tiny Giraffe’s 10 years and asking how would I actually like to celebrate it? Realising I’d love to hire my favourite cake maker, have cake in the park and invite my clients! Finally switching off my business brain on the holidays (this year was the first time in 5 years and it had to do with being booked out til March). Thank the lord for cash flow.

Artist Retreats in 2026 + Learning How To Become a Wallpaper Designer/Muralist

I’m big on in-person. I crave 1:1 coffee dates. I love intimate dinners. I prefer real life to online. I think the world needs more deep connection and meaning. So…

I’m considering running slow art, yoga and photography retreats in 2026.

It seems like the perfect way for me to combine my loves and my skills. My love of travel, joy of travel planning, all my insider knowledge of beautiful places and restaurants, plus a slow itinerary allowing for art practice (together), yoga (together), and the experience of personal branding photography (my gift to you - it is magic if you haven’t had a session before).

I’m also considering running an in-person 2 day immersion event to teach everything I know about creating wallpapers and wallpaper murals.

Imagine an incredible hotel stay filled with wallpaper and impeccable interiors, fun and interactive learning in an intimate group setting with inspired women (or men!), lush lunches, a slow walk on the beach at sunset, a delicious dinner, a personal yoga session with one of my favourite teachers. Time to ask me any question you have that is personalised to your business goals.

If I can get the confidence (and interest) to create these events, you’ll be the first to know.

And if you have ideas, questions or requests — hit reply. I’d love to hear from you and your feedback is so welcome!

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for reading my words.

Thank you for your support.

Wishing you every joy and delight for 2026 (my word for this year is ‘pleasure’ - came a lot quicker than the last!!).

Love,
Kylie x

Journal Prompts:

Journal Prompts For You:

• What are you wanting to let go of in 2026?

• What feels scary about letting this go?

• What would you gain from letting this go?

• How can you honour your heart in this season?